Improvement in railroad-chairs



' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

F'ANCIS A. BROVN, OF ITHACA, NET YORK.

lNIPROVElVl ENT IN RAILROAD-CHAIRS.

To @ZZ when?, 'it may concern.-

Be it known that I, FRANCIS A. BROWN, of Ithaca, in the county of Tompkins and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Railroad-Chair for Securing the Ends of Rails Together; and I do hereb y declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ot the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in whichA Iiigu re l is a longitudinal section of my invention, taken in the line of Fig. 3; Fig. 2, a transverse vertical section of the same, taken in the line 'y y of Fig. 3; and Fig. 3 a plan or top view of the saine.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class ot" railroad-chairs which are attached to the ends of the rails between the sleepers. V

The object of the invention is to obtain a chair ol. simple and economical construction, which will. not only serve as a secure connection for the rails, but also have a tendency to firnrly support the same under the weight to which they may be subjected, the downward pressure having a tendency to bind the ends of the rails and the chair Iirnily together.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

A represents the chair, which is designed to be of wrought-iron and swaged from a plate et requisite thickness, so as to form a lip or flange, (t, at each side, of a form corresponding to the bases b l) of the rails B B, as shown clearly in Fig. 2. The bottom c of the. chair is oi' sul'licient width to receive the bottoms of the rails B B, and said bottom is slotted longitudinally at each side acertain portion of its length, as shown at (Z d, andthe metal between said slots is forced or pressed down to form a box, C. The swaging of the lips ci u and the joining of the box C may be done at a single operation by means of suitable dies and a press.

D represents a key or wedge, which is of wrought-iron, and is inserted in the box C, said key or wedge having a transverse position with the rails B B.

The rails B B are secured to the sleepers E by means of spikes c, as usual, and the ends of the rails are inserted in the cha-ir A, which is between two sleepers and not connected therewith. The key or Wedge I) is then driven in or through the box C and the flanges d a are thereby drawn snugly down on the bases I) of the rails. The key or wedge fl) in being driven into the box C, has a tendency to force apart the upper ends of the rails at the same time that it draws the lips or lianges a d snugly to the bases l) l). The chair therefore supports the ends of the rails as lirmly as an arch, the pressure downward when cars are passing over the ends of the rails serving to bind the lips oriianges a a more firmly to the bases l) l), and, as the key or wedge Dis in Contact with the bottoms of the rails B B and receives a direct downward pressure through them, the key will not he liable to be casually forced out from its box C.

The invention is extremely simple and may be constructed at a modera-te cost, and, although more especially designed f r a `wrought'iron chair, may be advantageously used if constructed of cast-iron. In either case the form and principle of action are precisely the saine.

I do not claim, broadly, the use ot wedges to support the rail ends.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The employment of the central bok, C, in

combination with the chair A, and supporting wedge D, as and for the purpose herein shown and described.

FRANCIS A. BROWN.

Witnesses:

W. R. IYIUMPHREY, Roer. CAETWEIGHT. 

